A Russian woman has died after doctors accidentally filled her IV bag with the wrong substance.

According to Russian media, 28-year-old Ekaterina Fedyaeva was at a hospital last month in Ulyanovsk to have ovarian cysts removed in a routine procedure.

Advertisement

The Sun reports medical personnel accidentally gave Fedyaeva formalin instead of saline. Formalin contains formaldehyde — which is used to preserve dead bodies.

According to Tass, medics tried to remove the substance from her abdominal cavity, but it was too late.

Fedyaeva reportedly suffered horrible pains and convulsions for days before slipping into a coma. She was attached to a life support machine, but her heart stopped beating.

Fedyaeva's mother has accused the doctors involved in the procedure of "murder."

"People who performed the surgery already knew that they infused something wrong. They needed to take some urgent measures - but they did nothing," Galina Baryshnikova said, adding that she was told to go home when her daughter's condition worsened.

"I think they just wanted me to go away and to hide everything," she said.

Eventually, doctors told the mother that a "medical mistake" had taken place.

Rashid Abdullov, minister of health, family and social well-being for the Ulyanovsk region, called the situation a tragedy and said medical staff "did not read the name on the vial."

“My deepest condolences to the family, relatives of Ekaterina Fedyaeva,” Abdullov wrote on Twitter late last week. “This is a terrible tragedy. We will provide all the necessary aid to the family. Those responsible for the tragedy have been already brought to liability and the investigative agencies continue to work.”

A criminal investigation into the incident has reportedly been opened. The head of the hospital has been dismissed, along with other medical staff involved in the procedure.